


Ryan's Story

by Reader88



Series: The Utopian Knights [7]
Category: School of Rock (2003)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-04 23:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1797205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reader88/pseuds/Reader88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan Toby is an African-American boy growing up in Atlanta, Georgia. Since his mother died in childbirth, Ryan is being raised by his aunt and uncle. He suffers countless abuse and sings with a gospel choir to escape his misery. When he decides to run away it will forever change his destiny for the better...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My character Ryan Toby is based off of real-life actor and singer Ryan Toby. Ryan Toby played Wesley Glen 'Ahmal' James in the movie, 'Sister Act 2'.

"Push, ma'am! Push!" May Toby was pushing with all her might. Giving birth was using up every last bit of strength she had. Hours later, the obstetrician pulled out a small, crying body. The obstetrician cleaned it up and cheerfully said, "You have a healthy baby boy. Any names?"

May smiled and whispered, "Ryan." She then closed her eyes for the last time. The doctors wrote on the birth certificate: **Ryan Toby; April 6th, 1974**.

Baby Ryan's custody was handed over to May's sister, April, and April's husband, Randy, who lived in the working-class section of Sweet Auburn. The one-story house was small but it was adequate. April loved her sister May more than anything in the whole world. Since Ryan's birth had taken her away she felt she was under no obligation to love him. Her husband, Randy, hated kids but decided that Ryan might be useful in the future when he was grown up. These were the two people Ryan was raised by. But from Day One he learned how pathetic and useless he was.

"You're a useless piece of shit. You know that, right?" ranted Randy. Ryan just sat there dumbly and shrugged as if to say, "I don't know." Randy stated, "The only reason you exist is because yo mama got raped at a high school party. The father ran off and she died giving birth to you. Congratulations, Ryan. Your first action in life was murdering your mother." Ryan listened to Randy and, at first, didn't believe him. But several neighbors and friends confirmed the story and Ryan had to accept that he was a bastard child who had killed his mother.

Ryan suffered from a lot of depression and wasn't sure if he was meant to exist. One day he heard music coming from a church and went inside to listen. The South is famous for being highly religious and Atlanta was no exception. The church was Wheat Street Baptist Church. Ryan went inside the church and sat in a pew. Ryan listened to Reverend Borders preach about the life of Jesus Christ. Since Ryan didn't have anything better to do he went to church on Sundays. April and Randy never went to church as they claimed they didn't have time for Jesus jokers. When Ryan found out there was a children's choir he decided to join. When they were taught to sing the spiritual, "Wade in the Water" Ryan just opened his mouth and let the words come out. Soon all the children stared at him and he asked, "Did I do something wrong?" Ryan was soon assigned with the task of lead singer. He sang gospel songs such as "Oh Happy Day":

 _"Oh happy day (oh happy day)_  
_Oh happy day (oh happy day)_  
_When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)_  
_When Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)_  
_Jesus washed (when Jesus washed)_  
_Washed my sins away (oh happy day)_  
_Oh happy day (oh happy day)"_

He also sang Negro spirituals, such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot":

 _Swing low, sweet chariot_  
_Coming for to carry me home,_  
_Swing low, sweet chariot,_  
_Coming for to carry me home._

 _I looked over Jordan, and what did I see_  
_Coming for to carry me home?_  
_A band of angels coming after me,_  
_Coming for to carry me home."_

At the young age of six he had a musical maturity that was well beyond his years.

Ryan soon became a talented gospel singer with his sweet baritenor voice. Gospel music comprised of a piano/organ, guitar, bass guitar, drums, and tambourine accompanying a gospel singer's vocals. Reverend Borders discouraged singing and listening to other genres of music because it was "the Devil's music." But Ryan still listened to other music, particularly Southern soul singers, such as James Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and Sam & Dave, and soul balladeers like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. Southern soul was comprised of an electric guitar, bass guitar, piano/organ, drums, a horn section, and strong vocals. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues, country, early rock 'n' roll, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern African-American churches. The focus of the music was not on its lyrics, but on the "feel" or the groove. Music allowed Ryan to escape the miseries of his life and enter a world of magic.

But his Aunt April disapproved. "My sister loved to sing. She was the best singer in our church choir. Sang like an angel. She spent her whole life trying to catch a big break but life doesn't have no hand outs. There are plenty of people in this neighborhood singing their shoulda, coulda, wouldas. You keep on doing that, Ryan, and you'll end up like them and my sister. Dying while still trying to make it."


	2. Chapter 2

Most children have the benefit of having a family that loves and cares for them. But Ryan Toby wasn't one of them.

For no particular reason Randy beat Ryan with belts, switches, or his own hands almost everyday. Between each blow he'd say, "You're a worthless little bastard! Say it, boy! Let me hear you say it!"

Ryan would cry out, "I'm a worthless bastard. I'm a worthless bastard."

Ryan was then left to cry on the floor and put ice on his bruises. When he went to school the next day his teachers asked about the bruises on his arm and he said he fell down the stairs. Ryan wasn't sure if they bought his excuses but they left him alone.

April had her own set of torture tools. April and Randy were both involved in the criminal underworld and were hoping to one day move up to a nice big house in a nicer part of Atlanta. April had plenty of female friends who loved beautiful black boys like Ryan. They used him in a number of sick ways. One woman pinned him down on his bed and touched his penis and other private parts in a sickly way. Another pinned him down and kissed him full on the lips while she forced herself on him while she raped him.

Ryan was used in so many sick ways and found escape through music and God. Ryan became a devout Christian and dedicated his life to Christ and music. Ryan read the Bible everyday and sang gospel songs, spirituals, and soul ballads from the depths of his soul. Music is an important part of life in Atlanta. There are hundreds of churches with gospel choirs, each with their own unique style. There are black kids who breakdance to music from boomboxes on the streets of the ghetto. There are the marching bands at the black colleges and at the end of the marching band season there was the Big Southern Classic, a large competition of black college bands. There are the fraternities and sororities of the black colleges who have endless stepping competitions. Ryan started singing in school talent shows when he was eight. When he was nine he sang in a school talent show singing Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" and Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour." When Ryan sang the last of the "la, la, las" from "My Cherie Amour" the audience was on their feet and applauding like crazy. Ryan couldn't believe he had impressed them. He was just singing the way he always sang at church or at home.

However as soon as he got home from the talent show Randy got up from the couch and asked, "Where the hell have you been, ya little bastard?"

Ryan timidly said, "At the talent show."

Randy said, "Quit lying, you worthless piece of shit. For lying I need to teach your ass a lesson."

Randy lifted Ryan by one leg and smacked his legs, buttocks and face until Ryan thought he was going to die. He was left lying and bleeding on the floor while Randy went out for a drink.

Ryan knew he couldn't take another day in this living hell. He began to pack his things in a bag and decided to run away. There was no point in staying Atlanta when there was no one here who loved him. Ryan knew that he would miss Sweet Auburn. Even though Sweet Auburn is an inner-city neighborhood it's referred to as the "richest Negro street in the world." Several black-owned businesses are operated on Sweet Auburn, including the _Atlanta Daily_ _World_ , Atlanta Life Insurance, and the Citizens Trust Bank. The _Atlanta Daily World_ was the first black daily newspaper of the twentieth century and the most successful. The Atlanta Life Insurance Company was founded by Alonzo Herndon who, despite being born a slave, became the wealthiest black man in Atlanta. Citizens Trust Bank was founded by Heman Perry and four other partners so that black businessmen could own and operate businesses independently instead of relying on white-owned financial institutions.

Churches, such as the Big Bethel AME Church and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, helped maintain the culture and heritage of the street. The Royal Peacock Club provided an elegant setting where many African-Americans could perform and bring the changing styles of black popular music to Atlanta. Originally called the Top Hat Club when it opened in 1938, the club hosted local talent and national acts such as B.B. King, The Four Tops, and Atlanta's own Gladys Knight. The blacks of Atlanta remembered how history unfolded on Sweet Auburn; from the sit-ins, to the integration of the schools, to the voter registration marches, to the municipal campaign for Atlanta's first black mayor, Maynard Jackson. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site helped preserve the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. Since the Civil Rights Movement removed legal barriers to integration, many blacks moved their businesses to other parts of the city and found new homes in better neighborhoods. As a result, Sweet Auburn suffered from lack of investment and neglect which led to gangsters and drug dealers taking over the neighborhood. Ryan packed his things in a duffel bag, walked out the front door, went down the street, and never looked back.


	3. Chapter 3

Two years. Two long years of living on the streets. Ryan had sneaked aboard a train that stopped in Nashville, Tennessee. He was then beaten up and mugged by a groups of boys while walking down a street. Without any money he had to either beg for money or find something in a garbage can. Ryan found chicken bones, collard greens, moldy mac and cheese, and grits in the trash. He was so hungry even that tasted good. Ryan then hopped aboard another train to see if the pickings were better anywhere. It didn't matter if he stopped in Little Rock, Arkansas; St. Louis, Missouri; New Orleans, Louisiana; Richmond, Virginia; or Baltimore, Maryland. Ryan had been living on the streets for two years and he just ate out of garbage cans or begged for money. The eleven-year-old was able to scrape some cash by singing on street corners but it wasn't enough to maintain a decent lifestyle. Ryan tried to keep his faith in God but he started to believe that God either didn't exist or didn't care about him.

Two years of living had left Ryan looking raggedy and completely undernourished. He also suffered from terrible fevers but he didn't die. Ryan rode a train from Louisville, Kentucky to the large city of Chicago but he couldn't bear to go through the same homelessness routine that he had gone through countless times. He was just tired. Tired of being hungry, tired of being abused, tired of riding the rails, tired of singing for hardly a decent wage, tired of living. After a store owner threw a bucket at Ryan for eating out of his garbage cans and blackened his eye Ryan found a small, dull kitchen knife in the garbage. Ryan went into an alley, sharpened it with a rock and cut his wrists. It was best to end his life now. No one cared about him or loved him. No one would miss him. He was nothing but a useless bastard who had killed his mother. If there was a place called Heaven then at least Ryan would get to see his mother. Get to feel her loving embrace. With these last thoughts and blood pouring out of wrists that Ryan lost consciousness.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Ryan woke up but couldn't clearly see where he was. He saw white and thought,  _Did I make it to Heaven?_ But soon his vision cleared and he saw that he was strapped to a bed and that there were other children sleeping in the beds. There were bandages on his wrist, he was wearing a white hospital gown and an IV needle was inserted in his arm. He just sat there and wondered who had ruined his chance at death. Did his "savior" know he had nothing to lose? Soon a white nurse came in and said, "Good afternoon, sir. You're in a children's hospital. Two young men named Nick Cannon and Ricky Rodriguez saw you bleeding in an alley and called 911. It's a good thing we had your blood type, AB negative, that you didn't cut yourself too deeply, and that you have a young and strong heart. You'll have to stay here and fully recover before we send you to a foster home."

Foster home. Ryan had never been in one but he had heard of the abuse kids suffered at foster homes from other homeless kids he had met on the streets. The streets were probably safer.

After a few weeks Ryan was released and put in the care of a large black woman called Big Mama. She took him down to the parking lot and put him in the back seat of a Pontiac. Big Mama sat next to Ryan and told a black man named Nick to drive them home. They soon drove into the South Side, a neighborhood that looked scarier than the ghettos of Atlanta. They drove up to 3500 Crestwood Boulevard and drove towards a big house. Nick parked the car and they all went inside. Big Mama introduced the boy to everyone then realized that she didn't know his name. She asked him what his name was and Ryan wrote down on a piece of paper, "Ryan Toby." Everyone thought it was strange that Ryan didn't speak and it would be a few months before Ryan would utter a single word.

When a child becomes mute they don't become silent to make a point or create a protest. When a child refuses to speak it means they've retreated deep inside themselves and it could be awhile before they rejoined the land of the living. Nick remembered the first time he went to jail at the age of thirteen. Everyone thought he was stupid because he didn't talk but in reality he knew that if he did speak no one would bother to listen. Ryan would speak when he had something important to say and people were ready to listen.

It was a bright sunny day in April when Ryan heard "Rock With You" on the radio. He remembered when he first sang in the gospel choir and won that first talent show. Soon Ryan sat next to the radio and sang his heart out. He then switched to other stations and sang a variety of soul songs. From James Brown to Marvin Gaye, from Etta James to Whitney Houston, Ryan sang his heart out and heard a small applause.

A black kid named Tevin Campbell said, "I heard you loud and clear, Ryan. If you love singing then maybe you and I can sing duets. We can make some real money."

Ryan followed Tevin to the basement where Tevin had him sing soul and gospel songs through the mike while Tevin followed on piano. While Tevin smiled at him and encouraged him to keep singing Ryan thought,  _Maybe I'm not such a worthless bastard after all. Maybe I can still make it._ In the first time in what felt like a hundred years Ryan laughed and Tevin laughed joyfully with him.


End file.
